Center road-dividing guard



June 27, 1939. B, RAUEN 2,163,809

CENTER ROAD-DIVIDING GUARD Filed March 21, 19-38 Patented June 27, 1939 STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,163,809 I RQAD-DIVIDING GUARD John B. RauernLos Angeles, Calif. Application-.March 21, 1938,,Se1-ial'No. 197,071 Claims. 01. 256-131) This. invention vrelates to a road guard for dividing.- a highway into directional lanes, and is more. particularly directed to a road guard which. is adapted to absorb. the impact forces'imposedupon it Whenacting as a. guard rail to divide a highwayintoi directional lanes.

In highways, due to the ever increasingnumber of accidents that .occur, it is becoming more necessary daily to divide such highways into directional lanes whereby the trafiic traveling on the highway in onedirection is separated. from the highway travel in the, opposite direction. The problems incident to the division of. the highway intotdireotional lanes require that the means 15.: utilized. for. dividing. the highway are such of themselves asto require aminimum of space upon.

the highwayand be ofsuchformationand construction as to prevent or. reduce the possibility of .accidents occurring andto be of such. con- 20 struction and formation. as to compensate for an-dabsorb any- .shocks imposed upon them in case a vehicle traveling the highway drives intosuch dividing guard rail.

It is therefore an object of this invention to 25 provide a dividing highway guard rail which is of simple and inexpensive construction, is so formed and supported as to require a minimum of space within the highway, and which is formed of duplicate construction of such form that im- 30 pacts imposed upon one part of the duplicate construction when exceeding the resistance offered by that part of the duplicate construction may be further resisted by the other half of the duplicate construction.

35 Another object of this invention is to provide a center highway dividing guard rail which includes a multiplicity of supporting members of. duplicate spring steel construction to which the guard rails are secured, and which duplicate spring steel supporting members are positioned with relation to each other so that an impact ,imparted against one of said duplicate members,

a if it is of sufficient magnitude, may be partially taken by the other of such duplicate supporting 5 guard members.

Other objects and advantages of this invention it is believed will be apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodi-.

ment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying 5o drawing.

In the drawing: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a road guard embodying my invention illustrating the same as adapted in position in the center of a high- 55 way.

Figure 2 is an end elevation partly in vertical section illustrating a form of. anchorage of the guard rail embodying my invention.

Figure. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the supporting means embodying my invention and 5 the modified .form of anchorage therefor.

Figure 4.is a. perspective View. illustrating a modified'form of complementary spring steel sup-- porting membersembodied in my invention.

In. the accompanying drawing there-is illus- 1 0 trated ahighway which is to be divided into directionallanes l and 2. In. order to..divide.this highway into the lanes I and 2; there is mounted. in the center of the highway, or in other appropriate position, in some cases depending upon the magnitude. of traffic traveling. in. different directions, a dividing rail. Thedividing rail includes a pair of spring steel supporting members 3 and l which are formed with curved upper sections 5 and straight legs 6.. Secured. to the curved section 5 arecomplementary guard. rails .l which extend between the supports formed by the duplicate spring members 3 and 4.

Means are provided for securing the legs 3 and 4 in position along the highway, which means may be of any suitable or desirable construction which permit of embedding the legs 3 and 4 in the concrete or other material used to form the highway. As herein illustrated, any suitable means may be employed for example such as the supporting plates 8 through which the legs 3 and 4 extend and to which the legs 3 and 4 are secured.

In Figure 2 there is illustrated a modified form of anchorage for the guard rail which includes a central plate 9 preferably of heat treated spring steel interposed between the legs 3 and 4 and this dividing plate 9 extends below the surface of the highway and into the formation thereof and is secured in position by means of reinforcing rod or rods I0 which are embedded in the concrete or other material forming the road surface.

In the modification of my invention illustrated in Figure 3, the parallel legs 3 and 4 are supported between the flanges ill) and 2| of a structural steel member herein illustrated as an H beam structure. In order to maintain the structural steel member firmly embedded within the concrete or other material making up the highway, retaining flanges 22 are secured to the flanges 20 and 2i below the surface of the roadway.

In the modified form of my invention as illustrated in Figure 4, the supporting members are illustrated as constructed of two spring steel members having parallel and intact legs 3 and 4 and having at their upper ends outwardly turned and bulging portions 5 to which the guard rail I may be secured.

Having fully described my invention, it is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the details herein set forth, but my invention is of the full scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a center road dividing guard for dividing a road into directional lanes, the combination of a pair of spring steel supporting members having curved upper ends and straight lower legs, means whereby the straight lower legs are secured together, means for anchoring the supporting members in the roadway and guard rails of curved formation secured to said curved ends whereby each guard rail may act independently except under impact of sufficient force to force the guard rail impacted, against the other guard rail when the added resistance of the second guard rail and spring support therefor acts to assist the first rail in taking the impact.

2. In a center road dividing rail for dividing a highway into directional lanes, the combination of a series of supporting members, means for anchoring the supporting members in the roadway, the supporting members including a pair of spring steel bars having straight substantially parallel legs and upper curved ends, and curved guard rails secured to the supporting members at the curved ends of the spring steel bars, the spring steel bars being mounted in spaced relation and in pairs whereby each guard rail may act independently except under impact of sufficient force to force the impacted guard rail against the other guard rail whereby the said other guard rail cooperates with the impacted guard rail to resist the impact.

3. In a center road dividing rail for separating a highway into directional traffic lanes, the combination of a seriesof supporting members, means for anchoring the supporting members to the highway at substantially the center thereof, the supporting members including a pair of outwardly bulging curved spring steel rail supports, and curved guard rails secured to the said curved rail supports, the spring steel supports acting to hold the guard rails in spaced relation to enable the guard rails to independently resist an impact and to cooperate together to resist an impact of suflicient magnitude to bring the guard rails into contact.

4. In a center road dividing guard for dividing a road into directional lanes, the combination of a pair of spring steel supporting members, means for securing the spring steel members together at their lower section, the upper section of said supporting members diverging away from each other, guard rails secured to the upper diverging portions whereby each guard rail may act independently except under impact of sufficient force to force the guard rail impacted, against the other guard rail when the added resistance of the second guard rail and spring support therefor acts to resist the first guard rail in taking the impact.

5. In a center road dividing guard for dividing a road into sectional lanes, spring steel supporting members embedded in the roadway in spaced relation, guard rails secured to the upper sections of the supporting members in spaced relationship in a vertical plane but in substantial horizontal alignment whereby each guard rail may act independently except under impact of sufiicient force to force the guard rail impacted, against the other guard rail when the added resistance of the second guard rail and spring support therefor acts to assist the first rail in taking the impact.

JOHN B. RAUEN. 

